This letter refers to the NRC inspection conducted on March 2-5 and 11-12, 1998,
at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station to assess your security force's capability
to protect the facility against radiological sabotage and to determine
whether your security program met requirements. During the inspection,
an apparent violation of NRC requirements was identified, as noted in
the inspection report sent to you on April 3, 1998. On April 27, 1998,
a predecisional enforcement conference was conducted with you and members
of your staff to discuss the apparent violation, its causes, and your
corrective actions.

Based on our review of the inspection findings, and information provided
during the conference, one violation is being cited and is described in
the enclosed Notice of Violation and Proposed Imposition of Civil Penalty
(Notice). The violation involves multiple examples of equipment failures
associated with the protected area assessment system used by your security
personnel to continuously monitor and assess the security status at the
facility. The details of this violation, which contain Safeguards Information,
are described in the enclosed Notice.

The NRC is concerned that deficiencies related to your protected area
assessment aids had been identified during audits conducted by your Quality
Assurance staff in 1996 and 1997, as well as during NRC inspections between
1995-1997, and adequate action was not taken to correct the deficiencies.
As a result of the failure to address the identified deficiencies, the
assessment aids further degraded, resulting in the violation. At the enforcement
conference, you indicated that there was inadequate management oversight
regarding the quality of the assessment aids, and there was insufficient
senior management support to properly maintain the capability of the assessment
aids. You further stated that it was not until after the NRC inspection
that senior management determined that there were known problems with
the assessment aids that had been previously documented. Those problems
had been documented on work lists rather than problem reports, and although
maintenance requests had been issued, they were reissued under new numbers
when deadlines were not met, which prolonged the period that the assessment
aids were degraded.

This violation represents a significant lack of attention, by security
staff, supervision, and management, to an important aspect of the security
program at Pilgrim. The failure to ensure these aids were maintained operable
resulted in a degradation of your overall system for protecting the facility
from security threats. These aids are needed to provide a capability to
observe the protected area barrier and isolation zone to limit exposure
of responding personnel to possible attacks. Therefore, the violation
has been categorized at Severity Level III in accordance with the "General
Statement of Policy and Procedure for NRC Enforcement Actions," (Enforcement
Policy), NUREG-1600.

In accordance with the Enforcement Policy, a base civil penalty in the
amount of $55,000 is considered for a Severity Level III violation. Since
your facility has been the subject of escalated enforcement actions within
the last 2 years(1), the NRC considered
whether credit was warranted for Identification and Corrective Action
in accordance with the civil penalty assessment process in Section VI.B.2
of the Enforcement Policy. Credit is not warranted for Identification
because the violation was identified by the NRC. The NRC also considered
your corrective actions, as described at the enforcement conference. These
actions included, but were not limited to, (1) establishing compensatory
measures for the degraded assessment aids; (2) assignment of additional
maintenance staff to assist with maintenance of security assessment aids;
(3) reinforcement of expectations by the Vice President and Group Manger;
(4) providing "on-the-job" training to Central Alarm Station and Secondary
Alarm Station operators; (5) creation of a checklist to surveill equipment
by operators and supervisors; and (6) replacement of equipment with new,
"state-of-the-art" equipment. Credit is warranted for Corrective Action
because these actions, at the time of the enforcement conference, were
considered prompt and comprehensive.

Therefore, to emphasize the importance of maintaining appropriate security
at the facility, and promptly responding to indications of degraded conditions,
I have been authorized, after consultation with the Director, Office of
Enforcement, to propose a civil penalty in the amount of $55,000 for this
Severity Level III violation.

You are required to respond to this letter and should follow the instructions
specified in the enclosed Notice when preparing your response. In your
response, you should also describe actions taken or planned, to ensure
appropriate attention is given to resolution of maintenance requests in
a timely manner. The NRC will use your response, in part, to determine
whether further enforcement action is necessary to ensure compliance with
regulatory requirements.

In accordance with 10 CFR 2.790 of the NRC's "Rules of Practice," a copy
of this letter, its enclosure, without safeguards information, and your
response will be placed in the NRC Public Document Room (PDR).

Sincerely,

ORIGINAL SIGNED BY:
HUBERT J. MILLER

Hubert J. Miller
Regional Administrator

Docket No. 50-293
License No. DPR-35

Enclosure: Notice of Violation and Proposed Imposition of
Civil
Penalty

NOTICE OF VIOLATION
AND
PROPOSED IMPOSITION OF CIVIL PENALTY

Boston Edison Company
Pilgrim

Docket No. 50-293
License No. DPR-35
EA 98-191

During an NRC inspection conducted on March 2-5 and 11-12, 1998, a violation
of NRC requirements was identified. In accordance with the "General Statement
of Policy and Procedure for NRC Enforcement Actions," NUREG-1600, the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission proposes to impose a civil penalty pursuant
to Section 234 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (Act), 42
U.S.C. 2282, and 10 CFR 2.205. The particular violation and associated
civil penalty are set forth below:

License Condition 3.g of License No. DPR-35 requires that the licensee
fully implement and maintain in effect all provisions of the Commission-approved
physical security plan, including amendments made pursuant to provisions
of 10 CFR 73.55.

Pursuant to the provisions of 10 CFR 2.201, Boston Edison Company (Licensee)
is hereby required to submit a written statement or explanation to the
Director, Office of Enforcement, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, within
30 days of the date of this Notice of Violation and Proposed Imposition
of Civil Penalty (Notice). This reply should be clearly marked as a "Reply
to a Notice of Violation" and should include for each alleged violation:
(1) admission or denial of the alleged violation, (2) the reasons
for the violation if admitted, and if denied, the reasons why, (3) the
corrective steps that have been taken and the results achieved, (4) the
corrective steps that will be taken to avoid further violations, and (5)
the date when full compliance will be achieved. If an adequate reply is
not received within the time specified in this Notice, an Order or a Demand
for Information may be issued as to why the license should not be modified,
suspended, or revoked or why such other action as may be proper should
not be taken. Consideration may be given to extending the response time
for good cause shown. Under the authority of Section 182 of the Act, 42
U.S.C. 2232, this response shall be submitted under oath or affirmation.

Within the same time as provided for the response required above under
10 CFR 2.201, the Licensee may pay the civil penalty by letter
addressed to the Director, Office of Enforcement, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, with a check, draft, money order, or electronic transfer payable
to the Treasurer of the United States in the amount of the civil penalty
proposed above, or the cumulative amount of the civil penalties if more
than one civil penalty is proposed, or may protest imposition of the civil
penalty, in whole or in part, by a written answer addressed to the Director,
Office of Enforcement, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Should the
Licensee fail to answer within the time specified, an order imposing the
civil penalty will be issued. Should the Licensee elect to file an answer
in accordance with 10 CFR 2.205 protesting the civil penalty,
in whole or in part, such answer should be clearly marked as an "Answer
to a Notice of Violation" and may: (1) deny the violation listed
in this Notice, in whole or in part, (2) demonstrate extenuating
circumstances, (3) show error in this Notice, or (4) show other reasons
why the penalty should not be imposed. In addition to protesting the civil
penalty, in whole or in part, such answer may request remission or mitigation
of the penalty.

In requesting mitigation of the proposed penalty, the factors addressed
in Section VI.B.2 of the Enforcement Policy should be addressed. Any written
answer in accordance with 10 CFR 2.205 should be set forth separately
from the statement or explanation in reply pursuant to 10 CFR 2.201, but
may incorporate parts of the 10 CFR 2.201 reply by specific reference
(e.g., citing page and paragraph numbers) to avoid repetition. The attention
of the Licensee is directed to the other provisions of 10 CFR 2.205, regarding
the procedure for imposing a civil penalty.

Upon failure to pay any civil penalty due which subsequently has been
determined in accordance with the applicable provisions of 10 CFR 2.205,
this matter may be referred to the Attorney General, and the penalty,
unless compromised, remitted, or mitigated, may be collected by civil
action pursuant to Section 234c of the Act, 42 U.S.C. 2282c.

The response noted above (Reply to Notice of Violation, letter with payment
of civil penalty, and Answer to a Notice of Violation) should be addressed
to: Director, Office of Enforcement, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
ATTN: Document Control Desk, Washington, D.C. 20555 with a copy to the
Director, Special Projects Office, NRR, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
and a copy to the NRC Resident Inspector at the facility that is the subject
of this Notice.

Because your response will be placed in the NRC Public Document Room
(PDR), to the extent possible, it should not include any personal privacy,
proprietary, or safeguards information so that it can be placed in the
PDR without redaction. If personal privacy or proprietary information
is necessary to provide an acceptable response, then please provide a
bracketed copy of your response that identifies the information that should
be protected and a redacted copy of your response that deletes such information.
If you request withholding of such material, you must specifically
identify the portions of your response that you seek to have withheld
and provide in detail the bases for your claim of withholding (e.g., explain
why the disclosure of information will create an unwarranted invasion
of personal privacy or provide the information required by 10 CFR 2.790(b)
to support a request for withholding confidential commercial or financial
information). If safeguards information is necessary to provide an acceptable
response, please provide the level of protection described in 10 CFR 73.21.

Dated at King of Prussia, PA
this 19th day of May 1998

1.
For example, on April 27, 1998, a Notice of Violation
and Proposed Imposition of Civil Penalty in the amount of $165,000 was
issued for several violations of NRC requirements. (Reference: EAs 97-482
and 97-525)